"Cheddar Man subverts people's expectations of what kinds of genetic traits go together," said Tom Booth, a postdoctoral researcher at the museum who worked on the project.

"It seems that pale eyes entered Europe long before pale skin or blond hair, which didn't come along until after the arrival of farming."

It's thought ancient humans living in northern regions may have developed pale skin because it absorbs more sunlight, which is needed to produce vitamin D.

Cheddar Man shares a genetic profile with several other Mesolithic-era individuals found in Spain, Hungary and Luxembourg whose DNA has already been analyzed. The group, known as Western Hunter-Gatherers, migrated to Europe from the Middle East after the last Ice Age, about 12,000 years ago.

First modern Britons had 'dark to black' skin, Cheddar Man DNA analysis reveals>There’s one race and that’s the human race - as it would seem our very own DNA reveals https://t.co/WsfYY0kYRe

Cheddar Man is the oldest complete skeleton found in Britain. Humans had lived in Britain off and on for thousands of years before his time, but they had been wiped out during periodic ice ages.

Cheddar Man would have been one of a tiny population of hunter-gatherers in Britain at the time. Scientists, who have been studying his skeleton for decades, say he appears to have had a healthy diet but died in his 20s, possibly through violence.

Dutch "paleo artists" Alfons and Adrie Kennis created a likeness of Cheddar Man based on the British scientists' findings, showing a man with long curly hair, a short beard and striking blue eyes.

The research will be explored in a television documentary on Britain's Channel 4 on Feb. 18.